B. I dont understand the hypoe around SDM in India. Guys !! It is NOT an Indian Movie. It is a HOLLYWOOD movie. So why are we shouting on top of our lungs for it. Yes ... there is a significant Indian Presence in the movie but it is not an Indian movie. The movie is about India and its slums and about an indian slum kid .. but the movie is NOT. So Chill ...

C. SDM has won 8 Oscars doesnt translate to India has won 8 Oscars or the other version 'We have won 8 Oscars' .... What we have won is only 3 oscars (and not 2) ... our dear A R Rehman, Gulzar and .. the unknown one .. Resul Pookutty ... in the categories ... original score and original and sound mixing ... I am happy for the "3 Oscars coming to India" !!!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Inflation in Zimbabwe has often been an interesting thing to read ... and then it became an amazing thing to read and now .. its gone further ... beating even Google .. err ... Googol !!

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Inflation in Zimbabwe has bumped up a bit, to 6,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ... let me take a breath here ... 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ... and another breath ... 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 percent, according to Forbes Asia. Prices double every 24.7 hours.

That's more than a googol. That's an octillion times the number of atoms in the observable universe, I think. It's a lot.

It really is remarkable what Robert Mugabe has done to the Breadbasket of Africa. May it soon return to its former greatness

Friday, February 20, 2009

The Longest Running daily soaps of Indian history - Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani and Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu thi - came to en end in the last quarter of last year

And something else also has begun to happen ... a shift of focus ...

Gone are the days of scheming women and vamps try to work out wicked ways to push the other out of the scene and decked in the most exotic jewellery and accessories.

The times have changed ...

the 'men' seem to appear on the scene ... for the first time in sooo many years you see the men saying some meaningful dialogues .. doing some meaningful things and actually appearing on the scene rather than just playing the role of the background decor !

I was wondering ... is it the recession which is helping men come home early (or not go to office at all) and thereby for the first time the prodecers / directors thinking of them as 'target audience' and redefining serial making to include them too ...

Just wondering !!

.. btw .. some children focus also has come on the scene ... this is good ... there has been a dearth of programs for kids on the regular family entertainment channels ...

well ... i actually used this voting thing to get in touch with a lot of my friends whom I had not contacted in a long time ...

It becomes sometimes difficult to be in touch with all friends .. simply due to the large number of aquantances and friends we gather as we move along our lives ... school, neighbours, college, junior college, professional college, work, job 1, job 2 .... and so on ...

so when this voting thing came up .. i wrote to most of my friends and asked them to write back :)

as some intelligent person once said ... when life offers you a lemon, make a lemonade ...

Sunday, February 15, 2009

On hearing one of his students use the expression, "I don't know nothing about it..." a teacher took the opportunity to explain about double negatives and correct grammar to the class.

The teacher explained, "In the English language a double negative makes the statement positive, so your assertion that you 'don't know nothing about it' is actually an admission that you do know something about it."

Encouraged by the interest in this revelation among certain class members, the teacher went on to demonstrate more of his knowledge of world languages: "Of course not all languages operate according to the same grammatical rules, for example, in Russian, a double negative remains negative, although perhaps surprisingly, there is not a single language anywhere in the world in which a double positive makes a negative.."

At which a voice from the back of the classroom called out ironically "Yeah, right.."

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Monday, February 02, 2009

I was randomly reading about TALL building of the world and reached a thread about the 'Nakheel harbour Tall' which will be the next tallest tower rising above 1000 metres, more than a kilometer high :D ..

And here is one of the facts about the building ...

Due to the high speed shuttle lifts one may be able to see the sunset twice; first from the bottom and again from the top of the building !!

Amazing i would say !! (dunno for sure if this is fact or speculation / imagination)

some more facts ...

- The building is so tall that it experiences five different microclimatic conditions over its height, each with individual design features

- The temperature in the atmosphere at the top of the building can be as much as 10 degrees cooler than the bottom

And to think of it .. there is a design for a 2.4 kilometer high structure ... 3 times the current tallest building ... Burj Dubai .. which has finally reached its full height last month (right in front of my eyes .. since my client office is right next to the Burj Dubai :)!!

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Once upon a time the government with Ruling Party XYZ.. had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.

Ruling Party XYZ Said.. "Someone may steal from it at night."So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Ruling Party XYZ Said.. "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?"So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Ruling Party XYZ Said.. OK. "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?"So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Ruling Party XYZ Said.. "How are these people going to get paid?"So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, then hired two people.

Then Ruling Party XYZ Said.., "Who will be accountable for all of these people?"So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Ruling Party XYZ Said.."We have had this command in operation for one year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost."